Terrific Taipei!

Hi Everyone! We have arrived in Taiwan and have been spending a great day in Taipei! What a whirlwind of travel and oh my goodness are we glad to be here! Both of our flights were uneventful though very very long. :)

We are all checked into our hotel and simply love the neighborhood and staff. We sampled some tasty Asian inspired treats at the complimentary buffet this morning, with Scott's favorite being the dumplings and mine, the fresh fruit. Yum! We hope to sample something new and different every day! And for those of you that know me well, you KNOW that's a big deal!

The temperatures are so mild and its so strange to walk through a door and not brace for the frigid air or snowflakes. Our JOH guide ( such a sweetheart!) mentioned to us last night that Taipei was a bit chillier than normal for February, but for us Midwesterners its a slice of mild & humid heaven! It is a bit uneven though and we saw sprinkles today and low 60's followed quickly by low 70's, breezy and sunny......its a potpourri and we couldn't love it more!

In light of the sprinkles we decided to postpone our neighborhood walk about and trip to the temple until tomorrow and instead hopped into a cab and spent the morning and afternoon at Taipei 101....the tallest building in the world! Its so incredibly tall that when you stand outside and look up, the tip is obscured by wispy clouds and your neck screams for relief.... lol....or least mine did! ;) The attached mall is immaculate and very upscale. We found several treasures, most of them for Lauren.(Yay!) We also people watched in the food court and explored the (grocery) market; the varieties of fresh fruits and foods were staggering but you will all will be happy to know we did find the Diet Cokes (for me) and Pringles, for Scott. Its good to have a few creature comforts from home!

The rain stopped just before noon and of course we wasted no time dashing outside to walk the surrounding area. We stumbled onto a beautiful park area complete with the cows on parade. Some of you will know that the painted cows are a regular feature in downtown Chicago, so it was fun to see them grazing here halfway around the world! AND as luck would have it we were fortunate to be able to walk through the lantern festival plaza where we heard live music, read 2 half mile long sculpture murals of children's fairy tales; one Western ( Cinderella) and one Eastern ( the Ox Herder and the Maiden ).......so fascinating and the craftsmanship was superb. All around this plaza were also models built to represent each continent of the world. We walked right up to the Eiffel Tower, sauntered past the Leaning Tower of Pisa and waved to Lady Liberty in her gown of green! It was an unexpected afternoon of discovery!

And what is the rest of Taipei like? Well, its huge, bustling, vibrant and lush. The landscape is so varied with mountains, coastal areas, rivers and plenty of urban sprawl too. The people are all so polite and they delight in practicing their English on us. The children are particularly curious ( and adorable!) about us and several raced up and wanted to see Scott's ball cap and inspect my hair. Suffice to say too that with the humidity, sprinkles and heady breeze, my hair took on a mutinous life of its own! :( Ha! Ha!

Well, the jet lag is settling in a bit. I was not able to sleep at all last night, so with our 5 hours of walking today and lack of sleep, I am hopeful I can sleep for much of night. Scott had no trouble sleeping...... :) I hope this post is somewhat cohesive with my foggy brain!

I also wish to thank Michelle, a JOH & Yah** group friend who is making this post possible. Last night we were incapable of connecting to Blogger and she came to our rescue with a solution. We are so thankful & touched she would take her own time to help us out!! And so appreciative of everyone following along. Your beautiful, heartfelt comments that I read earlier helped to ease what was a bit of initial homesickness. You guys are the best!

AND, I will try to post tomorrow, but if time gets away or the blog refuses to cooperate, then I will set my sights on Tyler day!! We are soooo excited to see our baby boy.....each day brings us closer to him and each memory we build here in Taiwan makes us appreciate this incredible gift all the more! A gift we already cherished and treasured!

And for our sweet girl, Lauren.....hi baby, how are you? I hope you had a good day at school and that your big ride to Mimi and Papa's house for the weekend was good! Are you helping Mimi keep Papa busy? You know about him.....he can get a bit onery, so Mimi will need all your help to keep him busy! ;) We love and miss you very much!! Mama will call again soon!! Hug Mimi, Papa and Lexi for us!!


One of the many cows on parade......beautiful park area.........

Our Eva airplane....who says it never rains in Southern California?? LOL

Us in front of the LOVE letter outside of Taipei 101.

Hugs to you all!!